Virgin Galactic is seeking a Business Manager to help with the next stage of its mission to become the world’s first commercially funded commercial space line.
The job, which is based at the company’s aerospace facility at Long Beach, California, will involve the financial management of the Launcher One program, tracking costs, developing forecasts and formulating corrective actions to help Richard Branson’s bold venture to finally reach the stars and not be sucked into a black hole of debt.
As far as jobs in accountancy go, this is a white knuckle ride, but it’s not alone.
There are other industries where the rate of burn is sky high and there is no guarantee of an eventual return.
On s1jobs there are dozens of opportunities to push your career in financial management into the stratosphere, but if you fancy taking a leap into the unknown, here are two of the many sectors where nerves of steel are essential.
Film production
For every blockbuster movie, there are dozens that disappear beneath a blizzard of bad reviews and a super-expensive production is no guarantee of success.
There are countless ways for productions to lose money, from delays in filming to trouble with the stars – that’s the glittering talent, not the twinklers in the sky.
It’s the job of the accountant to stay on top of potentially spiralling costs. And to do that, you need to know more about the production than even the director. Identifying where money is draining away, whether that’s on enough extras for a remake of Ben Hur or ludicrous riders, where the lead actors demand caviar face masks and Cristal Champagne before they’ll set foot on set.
Future transport systems
In 2013, ten years into production, electric vehicle manufacturers, pioneering company Tesla, posted profits for the the first time.
Earlier this year it unveiled Tesla Model 3, the company’s first model aimed at the mass market and in the space of one week global orders totalled over 325,000 units, representing potential sales of over US$14 billion.
But it has been a roller-coaster ride getting to this stage.
In 2007 the burn rate was out of control. In 2008 the company let go 25% of all staff and it took an injection of $40 million to avoid bankruptcy.
Now the company has stores (not showrooms) around the world, including one in Edinburgh, its supercharger network sites are popping up everywhere and the Tesla top notch accountants can take a well earned breather.
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